There are, however, different expert opinions, advice, and unspoken workout "rules." Some stem from outdated information, and others are so ingrained that they become a habit — even though they aren't effective. These mistakes could not only mess with the success of your workout but cause injury and stall your progress too.

Here are 12 workout habits you should ditch for better results, and what you can do instead.

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1. Going straight into your workout.

Warm your core with a plank.
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You want to fit in your whole workout, but skipping your workout to do so is a huge mistake.

New York-based personal trainer Miriam Fried told INSIDER that about 90% of gym-goers she sees don't warm up. The other 10% are often doing random moves before going into their full-on workout.

"Plan on warming up whatever you're working on that day, and going through the range of motion that you're going to be going through," she said, noting that a good warm-up could last anywhere from five to 10 minutes.

"I get it: A lot of people are crunched on time, and they just want to get right into their workout," she said. "But it's 100% not worth the risk of the injury that can come with it, so it's worth giving yourself five minutes."

But there's a huge difference between static and dynamic stretching. Static stretches involve holding a position, like touching your toes, for 30 to 60 seconds. Those should be saved for after your workout since doing them beforehand could cause problems.

"Cardio isn't going to change the shape and the look of your body," she said. "Strength training is going to burn calories, change the shape and look of your body, and you're going to continue to burn calories post-workout because it requires energy to actually build muscle."

To successfully implement both into your routine, Fried compared a workout to a dinner plate.

"If you have a plate of food, strength training should be your meat and potatoes and cardio is your side dish," she said. "You want to eat the main portion first and get the strength training done, since that's your priority and the main part of your workout, and then cardio should really be looked at as something you sprinkle in as needed."

Although a cardio-only routine could help you lose weight by burning calories, strength training takes the cake regarding a time-effective workout.

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4. Forcing yourself to eat or fast before a workout.

Eating for your goals isn't as complicated as you might think. To lose weight, you need to eat less, to gain muscle you need to eat more, and to build your endurance you need to eat a specific breakdown of foods.

The jury is still out, however, on how effective meal timing is for your muscles. That said, it is generally encouraged to have a pre and post-workout meal of protein and carbs, depending on your specific goal. Fried noted that eating pre or post-workout is a personal decision that you will have to determine through trial and error, not based off of anything else besides how you feel.

"People should really experiment and figure out what works best for them," she said. "You might find that you love the energy that you get from a good meal beforehand or you might find that you like to roll out of bed have some water and come home to eat a huge meal [after], so it's sort of case by case."

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5. Sticking to the same exact routine for months.

You'll get bored of doing the same workout over and over.
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Challenging your body is part of the muscle growth process. And although having a routine will give you direction, you should change it up every few weeks to avoid a plateau, according to Fried.

"Ultimately, in terms of muscle growth, the thing that you need is progressive overload [meaning] you need to constantly be growing the volume that you're doing," Fried said.

She said you could increase your volume by changing the reps, adding weight, adding sets, or modifying exercises to make them more difficult by adding resistance bands, for example. Fried also recommended having a full new program every six to eight weeks.

"There are a lot of people who have one program written down on a piece of paper, and they follow that and do the same 15-pound dumbbell rows every single day, and at that point your body has already adapted to that workout," Fried said.

"If you're not actually moving up to that 20-pound dumbbell or going heavier, you're just going to plateau so one way or another, even if you're following that same workout on the same piece of paper, you need to [increase] your volume and progressively overload your muscles."

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6. Doing cardio first, then strength training.

Save your cardio for after your lift.
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The order of your workout depends on your personal goal.

If you want to lose weight or improve strength, the American Council on Exercise recommends doing strength training before your cardio session. If, however, your goal is to build up your endurance for a marathon or triathlon, they recommend cardio first. This comes down to using your energy in the most efficient way possible.

Fried always sees the cardio-first mistake with her new clients who want to build muscle.

"When I typically talk to people about what their workouts look like it's something like 45 minutes of cardio, and then they'll do 15 minutes of weights," Fried said.

"It should really be reversed [...] because you want the most possible energy when you're lifting heavy weights."

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7. Prioritizing weight or speed instead of form.

Your form should be a top priority during your workout. Doing an exercise wrong is not only dangerous, but can cause muscle imbalances in your physique and limit your muscle's movement, according to Men's Fitness.

If one muscle is overworked because it takes over the movement, you'll neglect the other muscles and won't see the results that you're looking for, Fried said.

"A lot of people will just think all that matters is that I follow the routine or that I do the set exercises, but if you're not actually doing the proper form you're not going to be getting what you need to out of the exercise so you're wasting your time and on top of that you also have the risk of injury," she said.

In addition to watching videos on proper form and asking for help from a professional, Fried said a quick fix is to decrease the intensity or heaviness involved in the movement — even if that means checking your ego to work on your technique.

"No, it's not just your stomach,"Gelband said of the core. "It's your hips, your lower back, your stomach and your butt all combined into a box."

Instead of crunches, Gelband suggested doing rotational movements and activities like swimming, biking, and running on the beach that won't put as much pressure on your lower back. Fried agreed, and added that spot reducing is a myth she always has to explain to new clients.

"The crazy thing is that most people don't know that," she said. "I have to explain that we can do arm exercises and work on building muscle in your arm, but we could bicep curl until your face turns blue and you're not going to burn the fat in your arms."

For better results, Fried also recommended focusing on your diet as well as prioritizing compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and chest presses that recruit more muscles and burn more calories.

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9. Taking long rests between sets.

Don't waste your time sitting between sets.
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Sometimes you just need to catch your breath between sets or sprints, but sitting for too long could backfire.

According to Raddatz, taking long rests between sets during your workout lowers your heart rate. Although, she said the amount of necessary rest does depend on the type of exercise you're doing.

"If you are lifting, resting between sets for 30 to maybe 75 seconds is probably plenty of time," she said.

"It really depends on how quickly your heart rate can recover and come down, so heart rate monitors can be really helpful since the quicker it comes down the quicker we can hit it again," she said. "If you're looking at [heart rate] as a guide, you can see how conditioned somebody is pretty fast. You want to stay in an active recovery zone if you are focusing on cardio and you want to come down to 60% during rest periods."

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10. Exhausting yourself every time you workout.

Training until failure is not always necessary.
Ian Walton/Getty

Although some people spend too much time resting during their workout, others are programmed to "train until failure." Meaning they empty their tank by the end of the workout.

"I think that's a mistake a lot of people make: that if they aren't dripping in sweat, about to throw up, or literally a heap on the floor that it wasn't a good workout and that's not necessarily the case," Fried said.

"It's really important to stay hydrated all day long that way you never really feel like you're trying to chug a whole bunch of water and then go do a workout," she said. "You want to take a couple of sips and keep moving through the workout, not stop half way through to guzzle down half your bottle [because] it's going to make you cramp up or it might just make you feel cruddy."

Water makes up 60% of your body weight, and spreading your intake throughout the day can benefit your muscles and your body's overall equilibrium.

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12. Only tracking your weight.

The scale is not the only way you can track your progress.
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If you're following your workout plan, listening to your body, and organizing your workout, you're on the right track to reach your goals. If you don't keep track of your progress, however, you're missing out on helpful information.

According to the National Institute for Fitness & Sport, tracking your fitness progress makes it more likely to reach and surpass your goal, hold yourself accountable, and reinforce your motivation to achieve that goal. It also makes it easier to see where you might be making mistakes.

Raddatz agreed and said that what you track can be completely personalized.

"I have a client who likes to write everything down everything she's done every single time, whether it's increasing her output in a cycling class increasing wattage wise, or getting lower splits in rowing classes," she said.

The same goes for people who like strength training in which case you could count your sets and reps.

"All those [measurements] come into play, and they are going to be key components, especially if you are interested in data and seeing your body perform better," Raddatz said.

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